It is an honor to have been nominated for the Booker Award by Kindle Book Reviewer Marilou George. Please visit her website “Confessions of a Reader” for some thoughtful reviews of books that are both great and fun.

I am now supposed to list my top five favorite books and pass the award on to five other bloggers who share the passion for reading books. However, instead of just merely listing single books I will list books or collections of stories that form part of a world-building series.

Quote: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, one Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. J. R. R. Tolkien created the fantastic world of Middle Earth with its many complex languages and creatures delighting us with the quests of Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit” and Frodo Baggins in “The Lord of The Rings.” The triumph of Frodo and his comrades over the evil Sauron and his minions is an uplifting tale full of stories within stories and legends within legends weaved together into a masterpiece of storytelling brilliance.

Quote: Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. So beings “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” the first volume of the epic journey of a boy wizard inhabiting a world right next to ours but carefully hidden from our view. The fantasy J. K. Roling created became a phenomenon that touched the lives of millions of children as well as adults. The adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione in their fight against the evil Voldemort and his Death Eaters will endure for ages.

Quote: 1) A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2) A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3) A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws. These are the three laws of robotics created by Isaac Asimov as the cornerstone of his Robot Novels which were complemented by his Foundation novels where he lays out his vision of the future of humanity guided by the science of psychohistory. This is one of my favorite authors because both in his novels and his life Asimov believed in the eventual triumph of science and rationality over folly.

Quote: And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? Dan Simmons with the Hyperion series of books (the Hyperion Cantos) created not a world but dozens of them to which humanity has expanded only to face some formidable enemies attacking from within. The vastness of his vision that spans both time and space blending science, religion, and the work of poets like Yeats is truly formidable.

Quote: That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die. And we end with the master of horror, H. P. Lovecraft, who in his stories imagined humanity as an insignificant latecomer to a world once ruled by Gods and other formidable creatures that are still worshipped by obscure cults in bizarre rituals. His vision of the sheer terror that arises when people come in contact with the remnants of this world has inspired many other writers from Robert Bloch to Stephen King.

And I nominate the following bloggers for the Booker Award: Jeff Whelan, the inspired wordsmith behind the science fiction saga “Space Orville.” George Angus, author, all-around nice guy, and self-described “Tumblemoose” with a new book on Amazon “Talkeetna Trouble.” Carlie M. A. Cullen, a writer who can write for hours on chocolate and wine alone. Author of the soon to be published novel “Heart Search.” Laura Novak, a former career journalist turned blogger who put out her excellent debut novel “Finding Clarity” on Kindle last year. Laura Zera, a unique and optimistic globetrotter, Canadian expatriate, and student of the world. Author of the book “Tro-tros and Potholes, West Africa: Solo.” Congratulations! If they choose to, the above bloggers can now add the Booker Award picture to their websites. For this they must post a list of their top five favorite books and pass on the award to five other deserving bloggers. ***If you like this blog you can have links to each week's posts delivered to your e-mail address. Please click here.